Saturday, June 13, 2009

Any studious hesher with a taste for the finer things in life owns at least one copy of Macabre's 1993 serial-killer-metal masterpiece Sinister Slaughter (my dubbed cassette copy, well over a decade old and backed with Cryptopsy's None So Vile, is NEVER far from the tape deck in my van). But the story of Chicago's favorite death metal masters actually began quite a few years earlier, with a couple releases that were every bit as great as S.S. MUSICALLY, but with slightly crappier production. Their debut, the 8-song Grim Reality EP, hit the market all the way back in 1987, and introduced the metal world to three twisted sickos with a caustic sense of humor and shredding chops aplenty. Followed in 1988 by the demo/EP Shitlist (which is unfortunately IMPOSSIBLE to find), Grim Reality was but a mere warm-up for 1989's 19-song murder metal marathon Gloom.Quite simply, these albums FUCKING KILL. The musicianship, the subject matter, the research, and the song structures themselves are all brilliantly wrought, to the point the one must wonder: What the fuck took the metal world SO LONG to catch on to this band?

This album has been released, re-released, and re-re-released in 19, 20, and 21 track versions, as well as a 21 track version including the 8 tracks from Grim Reality. This is the regular old 21 track version.